Should You Dissolve Your Company Over Shareholder Disputes?

An Orange County shareholder disputes lawyer can provide assistance in situations where co-owners of a company have become embroiled in a disagreement. The goal of a shareholder dispute is generally to resolve the source of conflict so the company can continue operations. Unfortunately, there are times when this is not possible and a company is dissolved. 

Brown & Charbonneau, LLP will help you to try to prevent a dissolution of your business by working with you to find solutions to the problems that have arisen between you and your fellow shareholders.

If there is no resolution that can be reached, we can assist with a voluntary dissolution or represent your interests during an involuntary one. To find out more about how an Orange County shareholder disputes lawyer can help you, give us a call.

An Orange County Shareholder Disputes Lawyer Can Help You Avoid Dissolution

You and your co-owners of your company decided to work together for a reason. Perhaps you bring different expertise to the table, or perhaps one of you was better able to provide financing and the other had good business ideas. Whatever the reason, you made a strategic decision to work together.

Unfortunately, whenever people co-own a company, there is the potential for conflict to arise. This is especially true if the co-owners are also involved in the day-to-day management of the business organization. Disagreements are inevitable and are often healthy as the conflict could promote creative compromise.

A disagreement becomes a problem when you and your co-owners cannot com to a consensus on how to resolve your conflict. In these circumstances, you may consider dissolving your company.

This should be a last resort because dissolution can be costly, contentious, and have an adverse impact on your continued ability to make the company a success. Depending upon how the dissolution occurs, you may even lose your right to be involved in the company or could be forced to come up with a lot of money to buy your co-owner out.

An Orange County shareholder disputes lawyer at Brown & Charbonneau, LLP can assist you in finding ways to try to resolve you dispute amicably. Our legal team will work with you to negotiate a resolution to the conflict. If necessary, we can help you to find a mediator to help you come to a consensus and otherwise help you to explore options for resolving conflict.

Voluntary vs. Involuntary Dissolution

While dissolution is not the best solution in most cases, there are times when it could be the right choice. If your co-owner breached a fiduciary duty or did something like defrauding the company or embezzling money, you likely cannot continue to share the business.

If there is truly no way to resolve the conflicts between you and continued disagreements are likely to arise, it can also make sense to dissolve your bonds so your business does not continue to suffer due to conflict.

If you are going to dissolve your company, a voluntary dissolution is best. This means working out a plan for who will leave the company, how that owner will be compensated, and who will continue operations.

If you have a buy/sell agreement or other contract that you created to address dissolution when you started the company, that agreement can be controlling. Brown & Charbonneau, LLP can help you to understand how your contract impacts the process of dissolving the company and can assist you in working through the process of negotiating the dissolution.

When it is impossible for you and your co-owners to come to a consensus, the court may oversee an involuntary dissolution of the company in which the court makes a decision about the future of the organization.

Getting Help from An Orange County Shareholder Disputes Lawyer

Brown & Charbonneau, LLP has worked with many co-owners of companies to find ways to continue business operations by reaching a consensus agreement about a source of conflict.

When you work with an Orange County shareholder disputes lawyer, you are often better able to resolve conflict because your lawyer can use strong negotiating skills and can separate emotions from the process of trying to resolve the conflict.

If you are not able to come to an agreement or if the situation is one where breaking up the company makes sense, our legal team also has the knowledge and experience to facilitate the dissolution of your company. To find out more about how our experienced attorneys can assist you with finding the best way to move on from a business conflict, give us a call at (866)237-8129 or contact us online today.